Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Storm
The next day.
After waking up from her nap, Jima counted with her fingers. This ship was expected to take four more days to reach the port.
She opened her personal system panel, checked the info bar, and still found no new messages.
“How boring.” She stretched, lying back on her bed.
It was really too boring. There was nothing to do, progress had stagnated, and the feedback on my kind lies would only come once I reached the chapel. It was also difficult to test the ability range of “lies” while on the ship.
Out on the sea, with so few people around, messing with others’ dreams would easily be noticed by George.
There was no fun at all, way too boring.
Jima looked out the window at the unchanging sea, the only change was in the sky.
Lead-gray clouds piled up thickly, darkening the room. In the captain’s quarters, she was the only one present; two neatly arranged Gwent decks sat on the table, which Jima had previously taken to play with George to pass the time.
But she kept losing, and without any stakes, there was no enjoyment to be had.
“How boring.”
She said again, with no one to hear her. She felt that she couldn’t let herself be miserable alone, so she got up from the bed, dressed, and prepared to find George to complain; if she felt bad, then everyone should feel bad together.
After stepping outside, she saw George standing high up on the mast, holding a bronze monocular and looking out at the distance.
Dressed in shorts, Jima quickly climbed the mast, using all fours to grab the wooden ladder.
The sailors below couldn’t help but look up frequently.
Someone shouted, “Miss, don’t go up there, it’s dangerous!”
Jima ignored them and climbed to the lookout point on the mast.
George lowered the monocular and looked down at Jima with a puzzled expression in his blue eyes.
Jima complained to George, “How boring.”
George replied, “I heard that succubi have a lifespan comparable to that of dragons.”
“Just speak plainly.”
“I can’t believe you can’t stand it after just a few days; you’re an immortal.”
“Who says immortals must learn to waste time? Those elves and dragons have actually long since died; they just go to their graves a thousand years later.”
George put down the monocular and said, “What I’m doing must seem boring to you too.”
“What are you talking about? Go ahead, tell me.”
“I was learning about this route from the captain,” George said. “In the morning, we started to round the Cape of Good Hope, and after rounding it, we enter the Vast Ocean. Elves rule over most of the Vast Ocean. To the left of the Vast Ocean is a circular island inhabited by high elves; it’s said that the high elves control the sea monsters with their songs. To the right is the coastline of the Kingdom of Bartor.”
“So, we might encounter high elves?”
“Not likely, the Vast Ocean is too vast, and we are sailing along the coast.” George lifted the monocular and looked, suddenly expressing happiness as he said, “I see something!”
Jima couldn’t wait, tiptoeing and reaching for the monocular, saying, “Let me see quickly, what is it that’s so beautiful?”
George handed the monocular to Jima, pointing in one direction, “Look over there.”
Jima closed one eye, bringing the rough lens of the monocular to her face, revealing a blurry scene.
“I can’t see anything.”
“Do you see a dark coastline?”
“I do.”
“Do you see the white dots on the line?”
Jima looked left and right for a few seconds and said, “I see them, I thought they were smudges on the lens.”
“That’s Table Mountain; seeing it means we’ve rounded the Cape of Good Hope.”
“Is that it?”
“That’s all.”
“Just this?” Jima’s face fell with disappointment, akin to taking a long car ride to see a famous attraction only to find it unremarkable. “You’re usually calm, but you were so excited just now; I thought you saw something amazing.”
George shook his head and took the monocular back.
Jima said, “It’s better to go back to the captain’s quarters and play Gwent; at least that would be fun.”
“…Jima, that really isn’t appropriate.”
“What’s inappropriate about it? It’s stimulating, and I can fill my belly.” Jima leaned against the railing, “I believe you’re a man who can control himself.”
“That’s immoral.”
“Didn’t you say you figured it out yesterday? Proper entertainment can relieve tension.”
George’s face turned slightly red as he shifted his gaze, saying:
“But that’s too vulgar.”
“Am I vulgar?”
“Not really; it’s just… not caring about the opinions of the world.”
“Then that’s fine.” Jima tugged at the hem of George’s shirt, finding it amusing how flustered he was.
Toying with a virgin is really too much fun.
“Alright, alright, Jima, you go play by yourself.”
“There’s nothing fun to do.”
“Isn’t fishing good?”
“Boring.”
“How did your reading go today?”
“I read all morning.”
“Okay, then don’t disturb me, alright?” George picked up the monocular and continued to peer at his Table Mountain.
Jima leaned forward on the railing and said, “How boring.”
After waiting four or five seconds, George didn’t respond.
Jima gazed up at the unchanging gray clouds overhead and said, “If only some thrilling weather would happen, it would be fun.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a flash of lightning surged, a silver bolt striking near the ship with a thunderous boom that startled Jima, nearly making her jump.
George looked at Jima, who quickly waved her hand, saying, “Hey, hey, don’t be superstitious; this has nothing to do with me. A doomsayer is just superstitious nonsense.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than the sea wind suddenly picked up forcefully, blowing Jima’s hood down, her tied-back black hair flying in the wind.
The waves became steep, crashing one after another, causing the entire ship to pitch as the lookout point beneath Jima swayed violently.
Jima felt like she might be thrown off at any moment, gripping the railing tightly, saying, “If it’s gonna be exciting, let it come after I get down!”
George grasped Jima’s shoulder tightly and said, “Hold on!”
“Jump down?”
George answered with action; he hugged Jima tightly and suddenly jumped off the mast, landing on the swaying deck. After walking a few steps, he regained his balance.
Though Jima didn’t scream, her heart raced, and a dull pain pervaded her chest as she clutched it, easily maintaining her balance on the deck.
“Thump, thump, thump!”
The ship rang with urgent bell sounds. Sailors emerged from below deck, some slipping and falling on the deck, only steadying themselves by grasping the railing.
At that moment, the captain stood at the front of the ship, holding onto the railing and shouting at Jima:
“Don’t worry, guests! It’s just a normal storm!”
As soon as he spoke, the trident and sea god statue, which had been firmly affixed below the railing, suddenly fell off strangely, breaking in two on the deck.
The captain screamed like a frightened little girl:
“The statue of the sea god!”
As if to explain his panic. A massive wave, ten meters high, suddenly crashed into the side of the ship, causing the ship to tilt sharply. A sailor screamed as he fell from the deck, smashing through the railing and plunging into the sea.
George reacted quickly; he dashed over and caught the sailor before he could fall.
Jima didn’t suffer much; her agility was above average, and she moved on the deck effortlessly, just soaked in freezing salty seawater, shivering as she complained, “I’m freezing to death.”
From above, the captain shouted to Jima, “Miss! Quickly pick up the statue of the sea god!”
Jima hurried to grab the broken sea god statue, running over to pick up one half. But where was the other half?
She lifted her head just in time to see the other half of the statue roll past George, falling from the gap the sailor had broken in the railing, and George was too busy saving people to hear the captain’s voice.
“No！！！！”
The captain of the Sea Witch screamed, penetrating the thunder and the sound of crashing waves against the ship’s hull. In the face of that scream, even a frightened soprano would falter.
The captain collapsed on the deck, tightly gripping the railing, while Jima stepped onto the swaying deck and onto the ladder. Not far from the captain, the helm began to turn slowly.
Jima shouted to the captain, “Get up quickly; I got the statue!”
“What use is that?!” the captain shouted, “The sea god punishes us! We let His statue fall into the sea; He will surely be furious!”
“Do something!”
“It’s too late!”
Just as the captain finished speaking, several blue bolts of lightning struck down from the sky, illuminating the captain’s desperate face with a white flash, the deafening thunder temporarily robbing Jima of her hearing. A sail fell, thick with smoke. Another wave violently struck the ship’s body; this time, even Jima had to hold tightly to the railing to avoid falling.
She even seemed to hear the sound of the ship’s hull cracking.
At that moment, George jumped up, punching into the deck to steady himself. He crouched down and yelled at the captain, “Get the sailors to do something!”
The captain furiously replied:
“You should have saved the statue instead of the person! That was the offering for the sea god!”
“At this point, what good is saving a statue?!”
“You’ll get us all killed!”
“Only you will die!” Jima yelled back, “The ship is capsizing! We both have ways to survive!”
Jima thought to herself that she could just go back and take sleeping pills, forcing herself to sleep, diving into the pre-marked dream seeds, entering someone else’s dream, and using that to reach reality.
And George, he was muscular enough. Just hang onto something buoyant, and no matter the tsunami, he could survive.
The captain grasped the railing to stand, limping slightly. Jima then noticed he had twisted his ankle.
The captain shouted, “George! You need to steer clockwise! With the waves! Tell the sailors to raise the sails and secure everything! We can’t challenge the sea god’s anger; we can only flee!”
Although books say that typically ships should face the waves during a storm, George didn’t question it and ran to the helm. The captain lay against the railing, yelling commands to the sailors. After Jima helped relay messages a few times,
The ship began to ride with the waves, and the waves stopped crashing against the hull, becoming much steadier. With nothing else to do, she entered the captain’s quarters.
“This is so thrilling.”
Jima changed out of her wet clothes on the violently shaking floor, with seawater splattering against the window. She glanced at the compass in the captain’s quarters.
The stern was facing east, which meant it faced the coastline of the Kingdom of Bartor.
She realized that the ship, sailing with the waves and wind, was moving quickly toward the High Elf Island.
